Western Capitalism in Transition: Global Processes, Local Challenges

Since its birth, industrial capitalism has been punctuated by the need to find new ways to develop institutions that make the capitalist production process socially sustainable. These transitions are examined in the contemporary climate by a collection of world renowned thinkers. Over the last thirty years capitalism in the West has undergone a process of radical change that has erased the world we knew during the post-war ‘Golden Age’. Processes of globalisation and financialisation, coupled with mass migration, demographic transitions and the pressures on the welfare state, have brought about steep increases in inequality and a polarisation between winners and losers that challenges the very nature of citizenship. The redefinition of class structure and the transformation of existing patterns of social inclusion have both had a profound impact on the social fabric. This book explores – from different disciplinary perspectives – how Western capitalism has changed, and the consequences of these changes for individuals’ lives and communities. The argument throughout is framed by Karl Polanyi’s theories regarding the embeddedness of the economic in the social, and the dynamic relationship between these two aspects. Specific areas of change are discussed under five headings: the transform tions of global capitalism; welfare capitalism and rights; citizenship and migration; cities and urban transformation; and segregation and the spatial dimensions of poverty. The international array of contributors take into consideration the interplay of micro and macro factors to produce a developed analysis. Chapters focus on the uneven effects of capitalism, on the manifold social conflicts that are emerging and on the potential for the defensive mobilisation of individuals and social movements. By combining theory and empirical analysis and adopting a comparative perspective, the authors provide insights into the dynamics of change and the resulting winners and losers. Since its emergence at the end of the seventeenth century, industrial capitalism as a specific form of social organisation has set recurrent challenges to its own persistence, and until today, it has proved to be successful to develop new ways of accumulation based on its capacity of adaptation. Is this process of transition now accelerating or reaching an end point? This book is a critical exploration of capitalism in transition, bringing together cutting edge, world renowned scholars who reflect from different disciplinary points of view. This collection engages with the primarily Western themes of welfare capitalism and social fragmentation. Structured over three parts, the book analyses; the transformations of welfare societies and capitalism with a focus on South European welfare states and their (in)capacity to tackle poverty; the transformation of work and migration with a special attention to informality and the question of social rights; and the transformation of cities.This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 1, No poverty.